Silvio Danailov and Garry Kasparov presented ‘Chess in Schools’ in the European Parliament
Wednesday, 21 September 2011 13:42
On Tuesday, 20th of September 2011 the President of the European Chess Union Silvio Danailov and the chess legend Garry Kasparov presented with great success the project ‘Chess in school’ during the public hearing in the European Parliament. The presentation was accepted with great interest. The event was held under the high patronage of the President of the European Parliament Prof. Jerzy Buzek.
“Check and mate! It takes a heartbeat to win or lose. These are the rules of the game. You win today and you lose tomorrow and you move on. It is the same in life, isn’t it? Success and failure follow each other permanently as you go on with your life. That is what chess teaches us – surmount your difficulties and keep on. Chess is a powerful tool for developing thinking and memory in children. It teaches children to think analytically, logically and on at multiple levels. It educates them to make their own decisions and to be responsible for those decisions consequences. These are the qualities that would come in handy to anyone no matter who they are or where they are in their lives – no matter of religion, nationality and race. Research shows that children who have been exposed to chess at early age achieve better results in school not only in math-related subjects, but across outside the board.”-said Mr. Danailov in his speech.
The project “Chess in School” is a top priority in the management program of the President of the European chess Silvio Danailov and his team. It was among the most important accents in his pre-election campaign for the Presidency of the ECU. The purpose of this program is to promote chess in schools in Europe among children by offering chess curriculum, chess materials, chess teachers and communication material to encourage and motivate children to discover and learn the game.
After the public hearing was held simultaneous chess session in the President’s private saloon with the special participation of Mr. Garry Kasparov and the chess queen Judit Polgar who played simultaneously against 14 children.
Source: http://www.thesportscampus.com
I thought EU is bankrupt?
Great words from Silvio Danailov on the virtues of learning and teaching chess in schools. I’m so glad he mentioned that it can help teach accepting responsibility for the decisions you make.
I would only add that it also teaches patience.
I’d like to see experiments with teaching forms of non-competitive chess in schools (chess theory, art).